He doesn't know
by startnowdobetter
Summary: Carla has gone to Devon without Nick after their wedding day. When she finds out that she is pregnant with Nick's baby, and he seems to be ignoring her calls and texts, how and when will Nick find out that he could be a dad?
1. Chapter 1

_New baby fic time! This chapter is in Carla's P.O.V. but all other chapters will be from a writers point of view. There are a few other fics like this but I liked the idea of writing something along these lines. Hope you enjoy!_

 **Carla is in Devon and has little contact with her family when she finds out she's pregnant! It's a huge shock initially, but getting hold of Nick is a priority for Carla. But when she can't get hold of him, what will happen?**

Carla's P.O.V.

After me and Nick were finished, I had gone to Devon as planned and set up the restaurant that we were meant to run together. It was lovely, it was by the sea and things were going well. Until one day I collapsed. I was working when it happened and one of my waiters, Samuel had called an ambulance. I was taken to hospital, tests were taken and I found out that I was nearly twenty weeks pregnant. It was a massive shock. I had never thought that I could be, no missed periods, no nausea, little weight gain. I was taken for a scan to check the baby was ok, and thankfully, it was. I decided not to find out the gender, it didn't seem right – not without Nick.

When I came home and decided to call Nick, he needed to know, he would want to know. It was his baby too. It went to voicemail. "Hey Nick, It's Carla. I have something I need to tell you, and it wouldn't feel right doing it over a voicemail, so could you give me a call back? Thanks." I put the phone down and sat on a stool in the kitchen. I looked out of the kitchen window, staring into the reasonably large garden, smiling at the prospect of it being filled with a swing set, footballs and Frisbees scatted around. My smile soon faded when I realised that I had lost Nick. Images of a child, playing alone in the garden suddenly creeped up on me and terrified me. I had grown up feeling so lonely – what if I couldn't cope being a Mum, and Nick didn't want to be involved? The future suddenly looked so uncertain and here I was, sat in a kitchen, pregnant with a child until just yesterday I had no idea existed.

"Twenty-five weeks today." I told myself, sighing as I got up in the morning, placing a soft hand on my now growing bump. The baby had recently started kicking, and it was a comfort to know that it was doing alright. Over the last few weeks, I had gotten more excited at the prospect of becoming a mum and had bought some things online, a cot and pushchair being some of the most important purchases. I just couldn't believe that I could be doing this, getting so hyped up, even though I had no one by my side. Nick hadn't contacted me, and I had completely given up hope. I had hurt him too much, he didn't want to be involved with me, with our baby. I had told my work force a week ago, I could barely hide it now! They were so supportive, which was a bit overwhelming because I had only met them all a few months ago, but it was welcome nonetheless, I had no one else down here. My back was killing me. When the midwives told me that I was pregnant, they had said that the baby might be lying further back, which might be uncomfortable and uncomfortable I was definitely feeling! It wasn't just during the day, but also during the night. I couldn't get comfy and I was having trouble sleeping. I didn't mind through, I was going to be a mum in fifteen weeks. One hundred and five days – that isn't long at all.

Thirty weeks along, the baby was using my back as a springboard. I had started working only three days a week and had still heard nothing from Nick, I was texting him daily. He just didn't want to know I guess. I hurt him too much. In all fairness, I did warn him that I would hurt him in the end and I did. Not that that justifies what I did, I broke his heart. Now I'm paying for that, I'm making my baby pay for that. The thought of my child growing up without a daddy because of my actions almost broke me, so I tried not to think about it too often. Names were constantly running through my head and I think I know the gender. I went to a private 3D scan at 28 weeks and had made sure that they kept the baby's gender a secret, the idea of a surprise at the end kept me going and reminded me that this was all worthwhile and I would have a baby at the end of this. A child. A little girl or boy for me to love and keep safe. A life to protect. I would be a mummy. ' _I would certainly know how not to do it.'_

Thirty five weeks and it certainly felt like it! My bump was growing larger each day, and my back still hurt a lot. I had given up on Nick, I had more important things to worry about, like my business and my baby. I had told no one back in Weatherfield, it didn't seem right, especially if Nick didn't want to acknowledge that he was going to be a dad. I certainly didn't want the judgement from Johnny or Michelle, I didn't know Kate or Aiden well enough to tell them first and I was doing fine on my own all things considered. I had just left work on maternity leave, promising to keep in close contact with Sara, my second in command, and to be back as soon as I could be, even with a newborn in my arms.

Thirty eight weeks and two days. I knew it was time, the baby had been moving like crazy and the pain in my back had become progressively worse over the last few days. I felt so vulnerable, but I needed to do this for my baby. I needed to go through the tough part to be a mum. If you had told me this time last year that this would be happening, there is no way I would have believed you.

I had read about this part online. I needed to do all I could to move labour along. It was agony, every contraction hurt so much and my back felt terrible. At least it was nearly over. I took baths, I moved around a lot, changing positions, finding a 'comfortable' position. I did that for about twenty hours and was exhausted. My waters broke, but contractions weren't that close together. But eventually, the pain got worse. I phoned the hospital and they said to come in. This was going to be very long and I knew I needed Nick by my side.


	2. Chapter 2

Carla arrived at the hospital around thirty hours after she had first felt contractions, and she was already exhausted. She was taken to a private room and was sat on the bed when a midwife entered the room.

"Hi Carla, how are you doing? I'm Amy and I'm going to be your midwife today."  
"I'm good thanks." Carla told her before a piercing pain overcame her. She leant forward, breathing in a pattern.  
"I'm going to need to ask you a few questions in a bit, is that ok?" She asked, as she got a file and a form that she needed to fill in.  
"Yeah..." Carla muttered, pain coming through in her voice.  
Amy waited patiently until the contraction had stopped, and came and sat next to Carla on a blue chair beside the bed.  
"Is this your first baby?" Amy asked, as she started writing on the form.  
"Second pregnancy, first baby." Carla told her, placing a hand on her bump lightly, with Amy nodding in understanding.  
"Do you know how long you've been in labour for?" She asked.  
"Since about six am yesterday morning." She told her.  
"Ok, so quite long. How far apart are contractions now?" Amy asked.  
"About four or five minutes apart, I'm not too sure." Carla said.  
"Alright, what I'm going to do is measure baby's heart rate." Amy said, getting up and going over to set of drawers in the corner. "When did your waters break?"  
"About two this morning." Carla answered.  
"That's fine, now I'm just going to place this on your stomach for about half an hour, just measure how baby is getting on." She explained, placing a band around Carla's stomach. "Do you know the gender?" She asked.  
"No, I wanted to wait to find out." Carla smiled gently.  
"That'll be a nice surprise for you, make it a bit more worthwhile in the end." Amy smiled.  
"Right, you've said in your birth plan that you didn't want any pain relief, is that still the case?" She asked.  
"Yeah." Carla nodded.  
"Ok, so we won't offer anything to you from this point, but if you do want anything for the pain, just ask. Is there anyone you would like us to call?" She asked, as Carla leant over in pain once more.  
"My husband. I want him here." She said rapidly, starting to breathe into a pattern.  
Amy went over to the machine that monitored the baby's heart rate and checked that was all in order before going back to Carla and gently pressing on her lower back. Carla sighed gently at the relief.

...

"Hello, this is Catherine, a receptionist from the maternity unit of the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital, can I speak to a Mr Nick Tilsley please?"  
"Sure, I'll just pass you over" Steph replied, clocking immediately what was happening. "Nick, there's someone that needs to speak to you." Steph told him as he walked from the kitchen towards on of the tables, passing her whilst she held the phone.  
"Let me just deal with table 5." He replied, facing the bar.  
"It's urgent." Steph urged bringing Nick the phone, as she took the plates.  
"Hello, Nick Tilsley speaking."

...

"Hi, I'm Nick, I believe I spoke to you on the phone." Nick said, a bit dazed, still confused about what was going on.  
"Oh yes, hello Nick, I'll take you through to Carla, I don't think it's going to be too long now." The receptionist smiled, coming over to the other side of the desk.  
They came to the room Carla was in and the receptionist knocked on the door before opening it and keeping it open so Nick could walk through.  
"Carla?" Nick asked, upon seeing his wife doubled up in pain.

"Nick, Hi" Carla greeted, giving a small smile, relieved that he had come, giving her hope that he would play a big part in their baby's life.  
"What's going on?" Nick asked, as Carla rested her head on her hands, bending over slightly, as another wave of pain hit her.  
"She's nearly in the second stage of labour at the moment." A midwife told him, sensing that Carla wouldn't be able to answer her estranged husband at that moment.  
"Labour? Carla why didn't you tell me? I could have been here? I mean, how long have you known?" Nick asked her, not knowing where to start.  
Nick." Carla called out in pain, ignoring the questions that her estranged husband was firing at her. Nick walked over beside where Carla was leaning and began to rub her lower back. "It hurts so much." She told him.  
"It's alright, you're doing amazing." He told her, almost as if he been by her side the entire time.

"Is there anything you can do to stop the pain?" Nick asked the midwife.  
"I'm afraid it's too late for an epidural, but you can try that gas and air Carla?" Themidwife offered.  
"No, It's fine." Carla said, taking a huge breath out.  
"Carla, you're in pain." Nick tried to reason.  
"I'm fine." Carla snapped

"Right Carla, pain on a scale from one to ten?" The midwife asked, taking a little control, knowing Carla needed that to stay focused.

"Eight." She groaned, rocking back and fourth in an attempt to move the baby further down.

"And how long between each contraction?" The midwife asked her.

"They're not stopping." Carla told her, pain coming through her voice.

"Alright, lets get you on the bed, and I'll check you over, see where baby is." She told her, as Carla grabbed a hold of Nick's arm as he lead her towards the bed.  
At that point, Carla felt so vulnerable, but having Nick there helped a little. She knew that he would want to help, be involved. She felt less alone.  
Carla sat on the bed, with Nick taking her hand. "Do things feel a little more intense? Does it feel like baby's moved down further?" The midwife questioned, putting on some gloves.  
"I don't know, it just hurts." Carla explained, positioning herself on the bed.

"Ok Carla, your ten centimetres now so you should get the urge to push down soon. It's natural and nothing to be worried about, alright. Now, I'm just going to take a quick listen to baby's heartbeat and make sure that it's doing ok." The midwife explained as she put a Doppler on Carla's stomach.  
For Nick, hearing his baby's heartbeat made everything sound more real.

...

"I need to push." Carla told the midwife with pain and distress in her voice. She wasn't used to this much venerability, it was almost as if that intensified the pain.  
"Ok Carla, just do what your body's telling you to do." The midwife advised, with Nick taking a hold of Carla's hand.  
"Well done Carla, that's it." The midwife said in encouragement.  
"It hurts." Carla cried, panting.  
"You're doing so well." Nick encouraged her, planting a light kiss in her hair.  
"I can't do it Nick, I can't." Carla panicked, looking at him directly in the eyes.  
"Yes you can, I know you can, you've gone through everything else so far. This is the last little bit and then you get to be a Mum." He smiled at her.

...

"Right Carla, I can see the top of baby's head now so I need a really big push on the next contraction." The midwife explained.  
Carla did as she was told, gripping Nick's hand tightly, not that he cared. Twelve hours ago, he had no idea that he would become a dad today. He watched Carla go through excruciating pain so that they could have a child. She was letting him in to something so private and he felt guilty for ignoring her, blocking her number - because he was stubborn. But he didn't want to focus on that, there were two more important things to think of now, Carla and the baby.  
"Baby's crowning now Carla." The midwife announced, as Carla pushed once more. "Carla, stop and breathe for me." The midwife told her.  
"What's wrong?" Carla asked her in distress.  
"Is everything ok?" Nick asked.  
"Everything's fine, now Carla, little tiny pushes now to gently ease baby out." She instructed.  
"That's it Carla, good girl. Now one more big push and you'll have your baby."  
Carla gave one last effort and her baby was placed immediately on her chest.  
"Oh my gosh" Carla said, tears spilling down her face, a mixture of relief and joy. "Hey baby." She greeted, giving the baby a small kiss on the head. "What have you got Mummy?" The midwife asked, smiling.  
"It's a boy!" Carla exclaimed, looking up at Nick, who was in sheer disbelief. He was a dad.

...

Nick went outside to get some fresh air while Carla and their baby were getting checked over. His phone rang, and the caller I.D. revealed it was his mother calling. He sighed as he answered the call. He had been away from Manchester for about eight hours and thought that he better let someone know where he was. They would find out he was a father soon enough, he thought he would break the news to Gail sooner rather than later.

"Nick where are you? Steph said you had to dash off. I came to look for you in your flat but..." She began, before being interrupted by her son.  
"I'm a Dad." Nick blurted out, not knowing how else to say it.

What?" Gail replied. "I don't understand."

"Half an hour ago, Carla gave birth to my little boy." Nick explained, in disbelief himself.

"What? Are you sure it's yours?" Gail asked quite flippantly.

"Mum, of course he is!" Nick snapped, wanting his mother to have some respect for the mother of his child.

"Well I mean, knowing her, she could have slept with anyone ." Gail thought out loud, much to Nick's annoyance.

"She didn't, he's mine." Nick told her, calmly.

"Why didn't you tell us that she was pregnant?" Gail asked him.

"I didn't know." Nick replied sadly.

"How did you not know? I'm going to swing for her. How could she not tell you that she was pregnant with your child!" She replied angrily.

"She tried to tell me. She tried to, I ignored her and my unborn child." Nick revealed, running his hand through his hair.

"Oh Nick." Gail sighed sadly.

"He's beautiful Mum." He told her, nearly in tears.

"So when do I get to meet him?" She asked hopefully.

"I don't know, I want to give Carla some time and space before I start pressuring her to let people visit." Nick explained.

"What do you mean? I want to see my grandson!" Gail exclaimed, almost shocked at the lack of an invite to see her newest grandson.

"Mum! I want to bond with my son and make sure that my wife is ok before you all come up and meet him." He snapped, before explaining to Gail.

"Are you two back together?" Gail asked in disbelief. "Are you seriously giving her another chance after all she's done?"

"She's the mother of my child. I have so much respect for her, and I think you should too and until you do, you definitely won't be seeing my son." He told her, before putting the phone down, not letting an argument with his mother get in the way of how happy he was at becoming a father, despite it being a massive shock.


	3. Chapter 3

Carla had been moved to a room on a side ward and was told that they wanted to keep her in overnight to check that mother and baby were doing well.

Nick came back into the room, a beaming smile overcoming him at the sight of Carla and his baby. A sight that he'd never thought he'd see. "Hi Daddy." Carla smiled, looking down towards her son and then back up towards Nick.

"I still can't get my head round it." Nick told her softy, sitting down on the chair next to the bed, holding his arm out so his son could grasp his finger.

"No? I suppose it's a little bit different from my perspective." Carla told him, her eyes soaking up her newborn.

"Do you want to go to your Daddy?" She asked the infant in a soft tone, shuffling a little and passing him round to Nick.

"I want to know everything, when did you find out you were pregnant? Scans, kicks, cravings. Everything." He confirmed, looking directly towards Carla. He sounded soft but firm, and knew he would be feeling guilty, so wanted to give him what he wanted to know in order to move on.

"I found out I was pregnant at twenty two weeks, it was a shock to say the least. I had had no symptoms whatsoever, everything was exactly the same. It was about six weeks after I had moved so, it was definitely a surprise, but the best surprise.

They took me for a scan almost immediately and found out that he was healthy and perfect.

The midwife said he was laying quite far back so that's why I didn't show right away, and the main reason why my back hurt so much." Carla laughed slightly.

"Carla, I'm so sorry, if I'd have known..." Nick began, cutting in, feeling so guilty, despite the fact that Carla seemed fine with going through it all alone.

"Nick don't. It doesn't matter, it's forgotten. He's all that matters now." Carla told him, gesturing towards their son.

"Hey mummy, how are we doing?" A midwife said knocking gently on the door before letting herself in.

"Alright, a bit sore." Carla replied honestly.

"That's to be expected." The midwife assured her. "Has little one had a feed yet?" She asked, as Carla shook her head softly.

"Ok, are you planning on breastfeeding?" She asked, going over to where Nick was cradling his son.

"Yeah, just for the first three months or so." Carla replied.

"So what I'm going to get you to do, is feed your baby now, if that's alright." The midwife told Carla in a soft tone. Nick passed the baby over to Carla carefully.

"For the first few days, it's going to feel really weird, but you will get used to it. Baby is going to do all the work for you." The midwife began explaining.

"Do you want me to..." Nick asked, trailing off, signalling to the door.

"No, stay." Carla told him, as Nick smiled softly.

"Did you know about this?" Gail asked, storming into the pub, going straight to the bar and talking at Michelle. Johnny, Kate and Aidan were all sat at the bar, as Michelle was pouring them drinks.

"Know about what?" Michelle asked, not stopping pouring the drinks.

"Carla, having Nick's baby and not having the decency to come down and tell him." Gail answered quite bluntly, making Carla's family stop in their tracks.

"Gail, what baby?" Michelle asked, completely lost.

"Oh please, don't tell me that you want me to believe that she didn't tell you." Gail said, laughing slightly, not believing a word.

"I really don't know what you're going on about." Michelle told her, putting a glass of wine down in front of Kate, not that she or any of the other Connors were paying attention.

"Carla's had a baby?" Johnny asked, shocked.

"But she wasn't pregnant." Kate chipped in.

"Well, tell that to Nick, who's just informed me that I've got another grandson." Gail announced.

"I'm going to ring her." Michelle said, making her way into the back, being followed by Kate, Aidan, Johnny and Gail.

Carla had just given the baby his first feed, and Nick had gone to get a cup of coffee, when her phone started ringing, seeing it was Michelle, Carla answered.

"Hi." Carla greeted.

"Hi? Is that all you've got to say?" Michelle asked, angry, upset and over the moon at the same time. "Is it true?" She asked. "Have you just had a baby?"

"Yes." Carla admitted. "I'm tired Michelle, please don't have a go." Carla asked.

Michelle took a deep breath before putting the mobile on speaker phone. "We're all here, Johnny, Kate, Aidan..."

"And me!" Gail chipped in.

"And Gail." Michelle confirmed.

"Carla, love how are you feeling?" Johnny asked.

"Absolutely exhausted." Carla told them, laughing slightly at the end of her sentence.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kate asked, sounding hurt.

"Because it was a massive shock and I was all over the place, I wanted Nick to know first. It was the right thing to do." Carla tried to explain, before the baby made small whimpering noises.

"Is that him?" Michelle asked.

"It is yeah, I've got him on my chest at the moment, we're having a cuddle aren't we baby?" Carla cooed, smoothing her finger over her newborns cheek.

"Has he got a name yet?" Johnny asked.

"We haven't even thought about one to be honest." Carla admitted.

"Well Nick's probably getting his head round the fact that he's just become a father to a baby he didn't know about, born to a lying cheating slapper who broke his heart on their wedding day." Gail snapped, before leaving the back room and heading out of the pub, angry that she thought Nick had taken her back.

"Just ignore her." Michelle told Carla.

"I've got better things to worry about at the moment." Carla said, smiling down at her baby.

"When was he born?" Michelle asked.

"6:14." Carla told them all proudly.

"That's only about two hours ago!" Kate said, a little shocked that news even this big had made it to Manchester this quick.

"Can we come up and see you?" Aidan asked.

"Of course, I'm not going to stop you all. It'll be nice to have family around." Carla told them, as she began gently rocking her baby back and forth.

"Do you not want some time alone, just you and the baby?" Kate asked.

"It's fine, Nick's here, so it wouldn't just be me and him anyway." She replied.

"We could all come down now if you like, it'd probably be too late to visit, but we could stay overnight if you know any good bed and breakfasts." Johnny suggested, eager to meet his first grandchild.

"If you're all coming down, you can stay at mine." Carla offered. "There is a hiding spot for spare keys in the porch, I can text you the address, I don't want any of you coming up and getting a B n B that late." She added.

"Will there be enough room for us all?" Aidan asked.

"I'm pretty sure there is." Carla said confidently.

"Carla, are you sure? You've just had a baby, and we don't want to intrude." Michelle asked, knowing how hard it must have been.

"Of course, my baby boy needs to meet his family and I think we all need a catchup."

The next chapter: Nick finds out that the Connor's are coming to stay and is upset that he hasn't been able to spend a lot of time with his son and he told his own mother to stay away and give them all some space. When an argument erupts between the new parents, can they work together for the sake of their son. Is Carla a managing fine on her own, or does she need Nick's help?

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments, it really does mean a lot. It's not much of a chapter, but I though that I would update sooner rather and later because you seem to be enjoying the story.

Thanks, lots of love.


	4. Chapter 4

So sorry it's been a while guys, I had a breakdown and had to leave education in the middle of A-Levels, so I'm now f*cked :/ Thank you for baring with me and not forgetting about this story, I'm glad you all seem to love it as much as I do. Updates will hopefully be a bit more frequent now.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the latest instalment!

xxx

Carla had texted Johnny her new address and where to find the spare key and he was getting ready to leave at the flat, meeting Kate, Michelle and Aidan at the car in twenty minutes.

Michelle had gathered everything she needed, and decided to go to see Gail, and offer her the chance to meet her grandson. She wondered how Johnny and the others might feel about Gail coming too, but she knew that she would love to see the baby, deep down, and the outburst earlier would have been the pure shock of the situation. Fortunately for Michelle, when it came to Carla, she was rarely shocked by anything anymore. In this case, she was amazed that Carla had kept it to herself and not rung, but that was definitely a thought for later.

With her overnight bag in her hand, Michelle knocked on the door of number eight. David answered the door, with Lily at his feet. "Is it true, have Nick and Carla had a baby?" He asked her, a very confused expression adorning his face. "Apparently so, we've just spoken to her, they've got a little boy, born about two hours ago." She told him quickly, wanting to set off to Devon. "Well, looks as if Carla's been busy." He remarked. "Is Gail in, we're going down to Devon to see the baby. There's a spare seat if she wants to come too." Michelle explained, with David letting her in the house. "Mum, Michelle's here!" David called as Gail came thundering down the stairs. "We've got a spare seat in the car if you want to come down with us to see Carla and the baby." Michelle explained, placing her bag down on the floor. "Nick told me to keep a distance, I don't want to intrude." Gail told Michelle, folding her arms. "I'm sure Carla wouldn't see it that way. It's been a shock to us all and I think it's been a shock to Carla as well, she seems all over the place. Those hormones can't be easy. And I'm sure that Nick would love to have you there." Michelle told her, smiling warmly. She knew that Carla would want to avoid conflict, especially with Gail. "We're staying at Carla's house. There's plenty of room." Michelle told her. "Alright, let me just pack a bag." Gail smiled, gliding up the stairs, as if walking on air, chuffed that she would be meeting her newest grandson.

Nick knocked softly on the door, before entering the room. Carla was stood by the window, rocking her son back and forth. She was soaking up the newborn, making Nick's heart melt and making him feel even more guilty. "How are you doing?" Nick asked Carla, walking softly towards her. "We're doing good, aren't we baby?" Carla asked the infant, smiling softly. "But, I think that this little man wants his daddy." Carla told him in a hushed tone as she began to pass the tot to Nick carefully. "Hello little man." Nick greeted him, pride and joy overcoming his face. Carla smiled at the sight of her husband cradling their son. It was a time that should have been so happy for them both, they should have been living in Devon together, and Carla couldn't help but feel as if she tore her family apart before it even had a chance of working. "Nick, I am so sorry." Carla blurted out, a silent tear falling down her face. "Come on, I didn't think we were doing this. No apologies, remember?" Nick told Carla as he came over to where Carla was perched on the edge of the bed. "Carla, listen. You have given me the most beautiful baby in the world and I couldn't be any happier than I am right now. I don't care about anything else. It's about our future now, just the three of us." He told her, passing the baby back to Carla slowly and carefully, as if he was the most precious thing in the world, knowing that holding her son would make Carla feel instantly better. At that moment, a faint buzzing could be heard from Carla's handbag. "Do you want me to get that for you?" Nick asked, knowing that moving was still quite painful for his wife. "No it's fine, it's probably just Michelle telling me that they're on their way." Carla told him, as he stood up and took a step away from the bed, a confused look adorning his face. "Who is on their way?" He asked her, folding his arms. "The family; Michelle, Johnny, Kate, Aidan..." She listed as Nick interrupted. "What, so my family are staying away and yours are coming down to see the baby?" He asked her in a harsh tone, as she cradled her son in her arms, comforting him and making sure that he wouldn't wake. "I never asked you to tell your family to stay away." Carla told Nick softly in defence, not wanting to wake her sleeping baby. "No, but you never told anyone, I thought that was how you wanted to keep it." Nick said, his voice even more raised. "He's not a dirty little secret." Carla replied, again in a hushed tone, shifting the baby in her arms slightly. "No, but he feels like it. I was completely in the dark Carla!" Nick said, moving away from her slightly, anger and hurt still in his voice. "Through no fault of mine." Carla snapped back, as the newborn in her arms began to stir. "You could have told anyone else, but you didn't." Nick told her, as Carla soothed the infant. "I wanted you to know first, it was only right and I was trying to take care of him." Carla told him, tears forming in her eyes. "I was so scared of getting it wrong, I didn't want to lose him. I couldn't." She added, tears spilling, as Nick walked out of the room, knowing he was making the situation worse and needed to calm down.

As he walked out of the main doors to the hospital, Nick contemplated leaving Devon. It seemed as if Carla didn't need him, his son didn't need him. He sat in his car and sighed, placing his head in his hands. It was all such a mess. He was deep in thought, thinking about his future as a father, when his phone rang. He immediately jumped to answer it, just in case it was Carla. He had done enough missing out for a lifetime. It was Gail. He answered the call, as much as he didn't want her to interfere, he felt he needed his mum, anyway, it wasn't like the Connor's we're giving the three of them the space Nick had wanted for them. "Hi Mum" He answered, sighing lightly. "Hello Nick lovey, I was just calling to say, we've arrived at Carla's house and we're going to grab something to eat if you want to come, or you want me to get you something." She told her son, as he was completely in shock. After shouting at her earlier, telling her to stay away, she was the last person that he expected to see in Devon tonight. "Nick?" Gail asked, as her son had remained silent. "Yeah Mum, I'm fine. I didn't know that you were coming down too." He said, his voice quiet and soft. "I know what you said earlier, but Michelle offered me a lift down to see you three and well, It's not a problem is it? If it is, just say and I'll stay away, give you some space..." Gail told him. "No, I want you to meet him." Nick smiled. "I'm going to head to Carla's in a bit, get some things ready for when the baby comes home, so I'll see you in a bit." He added. "Alright love, I'll see you then." Gail said. "Bye Mum." He said, ending the call, before taking a deep breath and going back in to see Carla and the baby.

Nick walked into a scene that looked blissful. Carla was on the bed, lying on her side, almost curled up around her baby, as he was laying on his back, kicking his arms in the air. The tot had a grasp of his mothers finger, and Carla was smiling softly at her newborn. "I know you said no apologies, so I'm hoping these are the next best thing." Nick said, as he got Carla's attention. She looked up from her son before going back to looking down at him. "It's my fault. I should have asked whether it was OK with you. I've spent the last few months bonding with him, he's your son too." She told him, as Nick placed the flowers on the stand next to the bed, before kneeling down by the edge of the bed, close to his baby, and allowed the infant to take a hold of his finger in the other hand. "Whatever is happening between us, we need to sort it out because I can't let it affect him, I won't let it." Carla warned. "Yes, I know. I want what's best for him too. It's just a massive shock and I'm not just talking about this little fella. When I was in Weatherfield, I thought that I was fine, that I was moving on, but being down here and being with you, both of you, I've realised that I wasn't fine - because I still love you." Nick admitted.


End file.
